Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos
| The Right Honourable The Viscount Chandos KG DSO MC |
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| President of the Board of Trade | |
| In office 3 October 1940 – 29 June 1941 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | Andrew Rae Duncan |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Rae Duncan |
| In office 25 May 1945 – 26 July 1945 |
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| Monarch | George VI |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | Hugh Dalton |
| Succeeded by | Hon. Sir Stafford Cripps |
| Secretary of State for the Colonies | |
| In office 28 October 1951 – 28 July 1954 |
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| Monarch | George VI Elizabeth II |
| Prime Minister | Winston Churchill |
| Preceded by | James Griffiths |
| Succeeded by | Alan Lennox-Boyd |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 15 March 1893 Mayfair, London |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Marylebone, London |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Lady Moira Osborne (1892–1976) |
| Alma mater | Trinity College, Cambridge |
Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos KG PC DSO MC (15 March 1893 – 21 January 1972) was a British businessman from the Lyttelton family who was brought into government during the Second World War, holding a number of ministerial posts.
Contents
Background, education and military career
Born in Mayfair, London, Lord Chandos was the son of the Rt. Hon. Alfred Lyttelton, younger son of George Lyttelton, 4th Baron Lyttelton. His mother was his father's second wife Edith, daughter of Archibald Balfour. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College, Cambridge. He served in the Grenadier Guards in the First World War, where he met Winston Churchill, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross.
Business career
Chandos was managing director of British Metal Corporation, at a time when it was a major shareholder in "Metallgesellschaft A.G." a German Industrial giant which financed Hitler's Nazi party. He also served as Chairman of both the London Tin Corporation and Associated Electrical Industries.
Political career
Chandos entered Parliament as Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldershot in a wartime by-election in 1940 and was sworn of the Privy Council the same year. He entered Winston Churchill's war coalition as President of the Board of Trade in 1940, a post he held until 1941, and then served as Minister of State in the Middle East from 1941 to 1942 and as Minister of Production from 1942 to 1945. He was again President of the Board of Trade in Churchill's brief 1945 caretaker government. After the Conservatives' 1951 election victory, he was considered for the job of Chancellor of the Exchequer, but was seen as too linked to business and the City of London, so the job was given to Rab Butler.[1] Instead he became Secretary of State for the Colonies, which he remained until 1954. The latter year he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Chandos, of Aldershot in the County of Southampton.
Later career
Chandos then returned to Associated Electrical Industries, and steered it to become a major British company. In 1961 he was invited to deliver the MacMillan Memorial Lecture to the Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland. He chose the subject 'Jungle-or Cloister? – Some Thoughts on the Present Industrial Scene'.[2]
National Theatre
In 1962, Chandos became the first chairman of the National Theatre, serving until 1971. He then served as president until his death. His parents had been active campaigners for its development, and the Lyttelton Theatre, part of the National's South Bank complex, was named after him.
During Laurence Olivier's tenure as director of the National, Chandos was a central figure in the controversy over a proposed production of Rolf Hochhuth's Soldiers. The production had been championed by Olivier's dramaturg, Kenneth Tynan. Though Olivier, a great admirer of Winston Churchill (who essentially is accused of assassinating Polish Prime Minister General Władysław Sikorski by Hochhuth) did not particularly like the play or its depiction of Churchill (whom Tynan wanted him to play), he backed his dramaturg. There was a potential problem with the Lord Chamberlain, who might not have licensed the play due to its controversial stand on Churchill. The National's board vetoed the production and Lord Chandos damned the play as a "grotesque and grievous libel".[3]
Order of the Garter
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In 1970 he was made a Knight of the Garter. His Garter banner, which hung in St. George's Chapel in Windsor during his lifetime, is now on display in the church of St John the Baptist, Hagley.[4]
Family
Lord Chandos married Lady Moira, daughter of George Osborne, 10th Duke of Leeds in January 1920. They had three sons and one daughter. He died in Marylebone, London, in January 1972, aged 78, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Antony. Lady Chandos died in May 1976, aged 84.
References
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<references />, or <references group="..." />- Howard, Anthony RAB: The Life of R. A. Butler, Jonathan Cape 1987 ISBN 978-0224018623
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oliver Lyttelton, 1st Viscount Chandos. |
- Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by the Viscount Chandos
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Aldershot 1940–1954 |
Succeeded by Eric Errington |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1940–1941 |
Succeeded by Andrew Rae Duncan |
| New office | Minister of State in the Middle East 1941–1942 |
Succeeded by Richard Casey |
| Preceded by as Minister of War Production | Minister of Production 1942–1945 |
Office abolished |
| Preceded by | President of the Board of Trade 1945 |
Succeeded by Sir Stafford Cripps |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for the Colonies 1951–1954 |
Succeeded by Alan Lennox-Boyd |
| Peerage of the United Kingdom | ||
| New creation | Viscount Chandos 1954–1972 |
Succeeded by Antony Lyttelton |
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Caretaker Cabinet of Winston Churchill (May–July 1945)
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Cabinet of Sir Winston Churchill (1951–1955)
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- ↑ Howard 1987, p. 178-9
- ↑ MacMillan Memorial Lecture
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- ↑ http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/assets/files/News%20Announcements/BannerListJune2015.pdf
- Pages with reference errors
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- 1893 births
- 1972 deaths
- Grenadier Guards officers
- British Army personnel of World War I
- British people of World War II
- Companions of the Distinguished Service Order
- Recipients of the Military Cross
- English Anglicans
- English businesspeople
- Knights of the Garter
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Secretaries of State for the Colonies (UK)
- Viscounts in the Peerage of the United Kingdom
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs
- UK MPs 1935–45
- UK MPs 1945–50
- UK MPs 1950–51
- UK MPs 1951–55
- People educated at Eton College
- Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
- Lyttelton family
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